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Atlas of US Presidents
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Atlas of US Presidents - Phonics Shuttle (General Admission Software).BIN
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phonics
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manual.txt
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1995-11-07
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Phonics Shuttle (tm)
Beginning readers can explore the world of Words and Sounds.
Getting Started
Hardware Requirements:
IBM compatible computer with 80386SX or better CPU.
500K of FREE RAM.
MS-DOS 3.3 or greater.
VGA card and VGA color monitor.
2MB of hard disk space.
3-1/2",(1.44MB) floppy drive.
Optional Adlib or Sound Blaster card for background music. Sound Blaster
card or PC Speaker for digitized voice. MS-DOS 5.X or greater
using Smart Drive with XMS will enhance the performance.
After the installation is complete you may start Phonics Shuttle
by typing PSHUTTLE and pressing [ENTER] from the C:\PSHUTTLE
Directory.
NOTE: DO NOT LAUNCH PHONICS SHUTTLE FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS.
Operational Keys Press <Esc> or <F1> at any time to access
Phonics Shuttle's context sensitive on-line instructions.
Control Keys during the Rescue Mission:
Arrow Keys fly Kid Shuttle
Spacebar or Enter Key beam cargo to cargo transport ship In
many parts of the program, you may press <Spacebar> or <Enter>
to jump ahead to the next screen.
Control Keys during the Space Flight:
Arrow Keys fly Kid Shuttle and "tag" the target object by
flying straight into it.
Parental Setup Screen At the beginning of the program, you are
presented with a Parental Setup Screen. Pressing US> will
present you with a screen with the following choices:
Sound Card: Ad Lib Sound Blaster
Music: On Off
Speech 8 Sound F/X: Off On
Activities to Goal: 4 8 12
Go direct to 3D activity: Yes No
Space flight galaxy size: Small Large
The setup screen is a slidebar menu controlled by the arrow
keys. Up/Down arrows select the option to control: Left/Right
arrows set the option as desired.
Sound Card: Ad Lib Sound Blaster
If no Ad Lib card is detected, the Music option is grayed out
and forced OFF. (Remember that genuine Sound Blaster cards
INCLUDE Ad Lib compatible circuitry on the board).
Speech 8 Sound F/X: Off On
If the Sound Blaster (digital voice) circuitry is not detected,
the Speech & Sound F/X option is grayed out and forced OFF. The
Digitized voice will then try to play through the PC speaker.
Activities to Goal: 4 8 12
This option sets the number of Rescue Mission trips before
going to the 3D Space Flight activity.
Go direct to 3D activity: Yes No
This option permits you to skip the Rescue Mission educational
activity and go directly to the 3D Space Flight activity.
Space flight galaxy size: Small Large Sets size of virtual world
in the 3D Space Flight activity.
A Note to Parents The Kid Shuttle series has been carefully
designed to help your child acquire vital, fundamental learning
skills, and features:
Multimedia Edutainment with originally composed, soothing
background music designed to provide a calm learning
environment. The music is not loud, fast or nerve jarring and it
can be turned off. 256 color, animated graphics.
Digitized, computer modified voice to help nonreaders use the
program by themselves. The voice plays through the PC speaker if
no Sound Blaster Audio Card is present.
Child selects one of 8 players in many different space suits to
represent them. Both boys & girls as well as diverse ethnic
groups are represented.
Phonics Shuttle uses the child's name to create a warmer,
personalized learning environment. This takes advantage of the
fact that the one written item kids this age recognize is their
own name.
Phonics Shuttle is designed to appeal equally to girls as well
as boys.
Context sensitive help is available throughout the program by
pressing <Esc> or <F1>.
Four main activities with multiple variations insure
completeness as well as freshness, encouraging the child to use
the program over and over again.
First-of-its-kind Space Flight bonus activity uses 3D technology
and randomizing to create a dynamically changing outer space
environment to insure ongoing use of Phonics Shuttle.
Program Organization
The program consists of two parts, the Rescue Mission and the
Space Flight. The child begins by going on a Rescue Mission.
This is where the core learning activities are. Upon completion
of the Rescue Mission, the child enters the 3D Space Flight
activity as a bonus or reward.
Learning Activities (Rescue Mission)
Letters
Match upper case letters to their lower case equivalents.
Match lower case letters to their upper case equivalents.
Missing Vowels
Select the missing vowel to complete a word from a group of vowels,
picture clue given.
Beginning Blends
Using a picture clue, select the beginning consonant blend of a word
from a group of consonant blends.
Word Match
From a group of words, select the word that matches a picture.
Phonics Shuttle's learning activities are designed so that a
child playing the activity cannot fail. Each incorrect answer is
treated as a signpost, leading the child onward to the correct
answer. In this way, the child cannot help but learn the
material and is inevitably led to the correct answer. As a
result of this approach the child is never made to feel "stupid"
during the learning process.
Bonus Activity (Space Flight)
This is a 3D Space Flight to "find" a target object that allows
the child to "fly" interactively through space and explore in a
freeform manner. The activity is constantly chancing so as to be
continually fresh in appearance, and to entice the child to use
the program over and over again.
Learning Skills Required
Recognition of the letters of the alphabet is required for the
letter match activity. The other activities require basic word
recognition skills. If a Sound Blaster audio card is used, this
allows the built-in voice prompts to guide the child. These
voices will also play through a true PC Speaker. Peizo speaker buttons
used on some PC's will not necessarily play the digitized voice files
properly.
Learning Skills Acquired
Learn letter recognition by pairing upper and lower case numbers.
Learn to complete words by supplying the missing vowel.
Learn to complete words by supplying the missing consonant
blend.
Learn to match words to pictures.
Phonics Shuttle is flexible. It can be configured by parents to
provide a greater or lesser number of repetitions for the
learning activities to tailor the program to the individual
child's learning needs. You may also allow your child to go
directly to the Space Flight bonus activity. The Fun-to-Learn
Series is fully configurable, and features a parental setup
screen to allow the settings for music, voice, etc., to be
turned on or off.
The Kid Shuttle Story
Kid Shuttle is a kid-sized, animated space runabout that loves
to take kids on learning adventures through space. Helpful and
friendly, Kid Shuttle is a great sidekick and guide for space
cadets (kids) who want to explore faraway galaxies and help any
and all aliens in distress. Kid Shuttle is a companion who:
* has infinite patience,
* is helpful by encouraging correct answers,
* acknowledges incorrect answers without being negative or
judgmental.
* provides a fun bonus (reward) activity when the mission is
complete.
In this episode, Kid Shuttle has received a distress call from
the planet Syllabus. After passing through a strange space cloud
recently, the inhabitants of Syllabus discovered that their
letters and sounds were all mixed up. Some of planet Syllabus's
letters and sounds were transported to several uninhabited
planets in their solar system. Kid Shuttle will take you to
those uninhabited planets. There you will reconstruct the
missing letters and sounds and beam them to waiting cargo
transports which will return them to the planet Syllabus. When
your mission is complete, Kid Shuttle will take you on an
exciting trip, exploring the galaxy while looking for a
particular obje